Suzy Welch's 10-10-10 Process Can Help Guide Important Health Care and Caregiving Decisions

-          When analyzing the situation through a 10-year window, Lynne surmised that her father might have died, but her mother probably would still be alive.  Lynne also began to think about whether she would be willing to fly to be at her parents’ side every time they experienced health problems. If she decided to drop everything to always care for her parents on a moment’s notice, Lynne doubted she would establish a successful enterprise.  Furthermore, Lynne believed that if she opted instead to go on this initial trip, she would be running a successful company with multiple employees.

Deciding that she needed to go on the business trip based on the 10-10-10 process, Lynne began to consider other options that she hadn’t considered, including hiring a visiting nurse for her parents and getting her brother to agree to travel to be with their parent s. “Her consideration of the three time frames had opened her eyes to a solution she hadn’t been able to visualize in her ‘heated’ emotional state,” Welch said.

Lynne’s personal reaction to the results of the 10-10-10 process also was described: “By imagining how I would feel in the future – and how I wanted to feel – the crisis ended up changing my relationship with my parents for the better. It’s so much healthier now. It forced me to set up a sustainable system to care for my parents. It made me get on the phone and bring my brother into the equation. 10-10-10 helped me get over myself.”

If I had knowledge of the 10-10-10 planning process, my choices about caregiving would have looked different than Lynne's - as they should! And I could have seen how we could have used the 10-10-10 process to access each famiily member's wishes and then come to a consensus on how to proceed (instead of hitting our heads regularly against the wall).

I’d encourage members of this community to get a copy of Welch’s book and then begin to think about the decisions they are making based on the 10-10-10 formula. The results will help you clarify what you want in your life as well as unveil other options in relation to health care and caregiving.